Porcine Drama

John Oliver Is Here with the Only #PigGate Response You Need

One of the joys of having John Oliver among the pantheon of late-night hosts is getting his distinctly British take on European politics. That perspective came in handy, for instance, when Oliver went after FIFA with hammer and tongs explaining to some sections of the U.S. audience the depths of corruption that Europeans had known about for decades. But American audiences needed no introduction to Oliver’s latest target: the alleged scandal of Prime Minister David Cameron and a pig.

Oliver’s gleeful response was not only to the scandal itself (which he was careful to couch as the flimsy allegation it is), but to the prim way the British media is covering so-called PigGate. After playing a montage of morning show hosts politely talking around the story, Oliver threw his support behind one caller who spoke rather plainly about the event. “OK, but in that caller’s defense,” Oliver said with a grin, “‘putting his cock in a dead pig’s mouth’ probably is the politest possible way to say it. Consider the alternatives: ‘David Cameron was sucked-and-fucked by a Christmas ham.’ Is that better? Is that better?! ‘David Cameron received an unenthusiastic blowie from one-third of a BLT.’ Do you prefer that? You tell me a delicate way to put this!” And then, proving exactly why his show nabbed the 2015 Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Program, Oliver urged his audience to “go on Twitter right now and tell the British media a more polite way to put it using the hashtag #RESPECTFULINTERSPECIESFACEFUCK.” The results? Magnificent.